Enabling "talk" between
whiteboard, markers, projectors, etc to enhance meeting efficiency
Smart Meeting Room
PROJECT
Internet of Things
Carnegie Mellon University
Fall 2014
TEAM
Behnam Heydari
Fan Sai Kuok
Stamp Siripanich
Vishal Pallikandi
ROLE
Research Storyboading
Prototyping
Coding connection
"Tons of meetings happen in US everyday, but many of them are inefficient. Time and resources are wasted."
Causes:
Inefficiency is caused by lots of factors:
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lack of focus,
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unproductive activities,
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lack of proper documentation,
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losing track of time
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...
The goal is to improve meeting efficiencies by creating a smart meeting room that leverages the capabilities of connected products.
How to Improve?
Concept Developing
Various objects around the office were identified and interactions between them were explored.
The interactions between various objects were classified into two functional loops based on their functions.
Concept Overview
Concept Realization
The Spark platform was used to create a prototype system rapidly, because of its easy-use wi-fi module, compatibility with many Arduino libraries and ready Cloud capabilities.
Various objects in the room are monitored through sensors and their status is updated onto the cloud. Objects are controlled by calling functions from the cloud.
The agenda web page and other devices that are connected to the internet directly interact with the spark platform through REST API.
To orchestrate the function of various objects to function autonomously at the appropriate time.
The agenda keeps track of time, the progress of the meeting and co-ordinates the function of other devices around the room that are time dependant, e.g. making coffee when its time for a break.
Functional Loop 1: Agenda Board
Google Spreadsheet is used to enter in the meeting agenda for user-friendly and familiar experience. User just need to put in the topic, start time, end time and type of each event.
When the meeting is about to begin, the agenda app opens up and fetch agenda data through Google Doc API. Next the agenda starts to listen to two types of events:
1. Time events: based on the agenda data. e.g. 2 mins before the coffee break
2. Events from devices, triggered when certain action is performed on device.
e.g. someone pick up a whiteboard pen
When there is a matched handler for a triggered event, agenda will execute the handler and use Spark Cloud API to communicate will connected devices. (e.g. turn on the coffee maker and make coffee according to the number of attending people when it is 2 mins to the coffee break.)
Connected smart objects save time: turn on the whiteboard light when marker is picked up. Save a photogragh of the white board for the records when the eraser is picked up